somascd



No. 617,866. Patented Jan. :7, I899.

0. sumac.- APPARATUS FOR KNEADING DOUGH.

- (Application filed. Nov. 26, 1897;)

3 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

P at ente'd lan. l7, I899.

C. SOMASCO. APPARATUS FOR KNEADING DOUGH.

(Application filed Nov, 26, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2. FIG-8- (No Model.)

CHARLES SOMASCO, O'F ORE IL, FRANCE.

APPARATUS FOR. K N EADING DOUGH.

SPECIF1CATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 617,866, dated January 17, 1899. Applicetionfiled November 26, 1897. Serial No. 659,929. (110 model.)

.To all whom it may concern: Be it known that 1, CHARLES SOMASCO, a

citizen of the Republic of France, residing in Creil, (Oise,) France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Kneading Dough, (thesame being the subjectnnatter of Letters Patent. in Great Britain, No. 18,544, dated August 10, 1897; in Belgium, .No. 100,l89, dated August 21, 1897; in Switzerland, No. 15,217, dated August 27, 1897; in France, No. 269,463, dated August 9, 1897; in Italy, No. 33/45,660,

J 90/418, dated August 28, 1897; in Hungary, No. 10,661, dated August 26, 1897, and in Austria, No.47/3,72Q,dated August 24,1897,) of which the following is a specification;

Myinventionrelates to an improved construction of mechanical kneading apparatus wherein the materials for forming the dough are continuously fed in at one end and the kneaded dough is continuously discharged at the other end and provides certain improvements therein, which will be hereinafter fully set forth.

I will describe my present improvements with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section online 1 1 in Fig. 2. view, partly in vertiealsection, on the line 2 2 .in Figs. 1 and 4. Fig. 3 is a back end view, partly in vertical section, on the line 3 3 in Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a side view partly in vertical section, on the line .4 4 in Fig. 2.

Figs. 5, 6, and 7 show modified constructions of the feeding devices, Figs. 5 and 6 being, respectively, fragmentary vertical longitudinal and cross sections of one modification and Fig. 7 being a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section of another. y

In the drawings, A is a kneading-trough. B is a blade-shaft therein, having kneadingblades 1). E is a grating between the blades. V is the dri vin g-shaf t. R,Z,and U are toothed wheels. G is a bridge-piece. F is a flour-- hopper. e is a movable valve or partition therein. fare openings in valve e. F. is a smaller hopper. II are flour-feeding rollers. h is a regulating-bar ther over. hopper. h is a sliding egulating-bar. J is a vessel for liquid leavcn. 7c is a feed-roller therein. lare scrapers therefor, K is a wa- Fig. 2 is a front end.

I is a leaventer-reservoir. for. y n is a crank. q is a slotted rod therefor. M is a gage vessel. 0" is its air-pipe. t is a ater-pipe leading from said three-way cock 1 )r conducting water to reservoir uand thence to'the trough A. N is a salt-recepcylindrical trough A of comparatively smalldimensions-say a trough capable of producing one'hundred and forty hundred-weights of dough daily.having only about nine and one -,half inches diameter and thirtyeight L is a three way cock there- 7 inches length. Within this trough is a longitudinal shaft B, of metal or hard wood,

provided with a number of blades 1) 19, proportioned to the work to be performed. These blades, of helical form, are inclined in the direction of the travel .to be imparted to the dough during the rotation of the shaft. A horizontal grating'E serves to prevent the ro-' tary motion of the dough. It produces consequently at each revolution of the shaft a drawing out and aeration of the dough that is being kneaded. The blades 1) pass between the bars of the grating, which constitute in some degree a screw-nut to the screw formed by the blades. By this means the kneading action, is rendered very perfect.

The blades 1) can be arranged uniformly along the whole length of the shaftif it be desired to obtain a maximum amount of kneading action. 'lhcymay, on the other hand, be interrupted at certain points if a less complete kneading is required, so that the amount of Work expended can be limited exactly to the desired degree of perfection to be obtained. In the arrangement shown the blades are placed nearer together at the part where the materials are fed in and are placed farther apart at the middle, while at the dclivery end some of the blades are placed closer together again.

The blade-shaft has its one end a. formed square and fitted into a corresponding socket b, formed in the axis 0 of the driving-Wheel it, so that the blade-shaft consequently has rotary motion imparted to it through the toothed wheels R, Z, and U from the drivingshaft V, which is rotated either by hand or by power. The other end of the blade-shaft is carried by an adjustable center pin 0, carried by a transverse bridge-piece G, which latter is also removable for facilitating the dismounting and ready removal of the bladeshaft and grating when these require to be cleansed. For this purpose the grating slides. in two grooves (1 formed in the sides of the trough A. This trough can consequently be readily emptied and cleansed.

'io permit of sliding out the grating, the blades on the shaft are arranged to project to diametrically opposite sides, so that when the blades are turned horizontally they are en tircly beneath the grating and the latter-can be freely moved in its grooves.

All the ingredients required for forming the dough fall automatically into the apparatus at the right-hand end, and the dough,

' suitablykneaded, passes out of the otherepd of the trough.

The flour is placed in a hopper-F, divided by a horizontal partition c into two compartmen ts of unequal size. into the upper space F, which is comparatively large, the flour is directly charged, while into the lower space F,which is considerably smaller, the flour falls intermittently from F in consequence of an .alternating motion of the plate a, with gridlike openings f, whiclrplate moves in grooves situated above fixed transverse supports 9', which correspond with the said openings f in certain positions of the plate 6. 'his plate is reciprocated from the outside 0; the hopper by arms 10 10, entering slots in the projecting portion of the plate, these arms being fixed on a rock-shaft 11, from which pro jccts an arm 12, having a slot engaged by a crank-pin 13 on adisk 14, which .is driven by a bevel-gear 15 from a gear 16, fixed on the journal of one of the rolls Ii. The ilour in the upper compartment, which will vary in density according to the quantity charged therein, falls intermittently into the lower chamber F through the plate c, and will there always be of the same density, as the chamber is never "full. This body of iiour is then fed uniformly by the feeding-rollers ll ll, which revolve in contrary directions. The quantity of iiour is regulated by means of a movable. round or flat bar it, which can he slid endwise to uncover more or less of the length of the rolls and is actuated from the outside by means of a handle 17 and can be set in any position'by a set-screw 18.

hen the manufacture of bread is carried on with the employment of leaven in the form of paste, whether such leaven is prepared separately, or is produced inthe pre ceding operations, it is placed in a hopper I, at the lower end of which extensions of the said two feedingrollers H H cause the leaven to fall into the lnicading-trough. A sliding regulating-bar 7t, movable endwise like the bar 72 and actuated from the exterior by a knob 19 and held by a set-screw 20-, enables the opening between the rollers, and consequently the discharge of leaven, to be regin lated. The bare it h are shown in Fig. 1 slid in for almost their full length to almost 6 entirely close the feed.

For certain manufactures the leaven used 75 is of a liquid consistency. This is the casein particular for the manufacture of certain fancy breads. In this case the liquid leaven' is placed in a vessel J of slight depth, as shown in the partial transverse section at Fig. 5and in the fragmentary longitudinal section at Fig. 6, in which vessel is a roller 7;,rotated at a suitable speed and dipping into the liquid lea-veil, so that by its rotation it carries round a an adheringlayer of leaven, which is scraped off by a series of pivoted scrapers Z, bearing against the roller 7i, the leaven thus separated heing made to fall into the kneadingtrough A.

The number of scrapers Z, which are mounted on pivots m, can be varied so as to sup--. ply a greater or less quantity of leaven. v

The necessary supply of water-is led by any suitable known means into a reseryoir K. It is previously heated to the required 95. temperature or it may be heated in the vessel itself by any known means, such as a heated circuiatingcoil, a gas-burner, the. Thence it is supplied by a three-way cock L, to the plug of which is imparted a reciprocating rotary motion by a crank 02 and slotted rod q, so that at. each revolution of the wheel Z,gearin g with the wheel V, the cock establishesa communication, on the one hand,between the gage ves sel lll and .the reservoir K, and, on the other hand, between the gage vessel: M and the pipe 25, which supplies the water to the kneadingtrough A.

The capacity of the gage vessel M, wluch is preferably partly of glass, can be varied by making it interchangeable.

An air-escape tube 9' enables the gage vessel to be readily filled.

The salt-supplyis contained inareceptaclgp L N, in the bottom of which is provided a screw- 1 15 I spindle n, by the rotation of which a regulated quantity of salt, dependent on the pitch of the screw and its speed of rotation, is discharged from the receptacle. The screw spindle can be changed by withdrawing the pin 3 which holdsit. The salt thus discharged falls into a small reservoir in, together with the watersupplied from the distributing-cock L, through the tube 25. The salt is dissolved in the water, and this then flows into the kneading-trough A through channels Q at the place where the flour enters.

The drawings clearly show the manner in which motion is transmitted to the several parts of the apparatus. x 1

TWhen the fiouremployed is dry and of apuls verulent texture-such as that employed in Austria for making the bread called Kins-er bred, die-it may happen that it will run driving-gear of the apparatus.

through between the rollers II-without these being rotated. The regulation becomes in that case very diliicult, as the supply no longer depends on the speed of rotation. case I employ the arrangement shown at Fig. 7. The flour-hopper F here has at its-lower end an endless cloth S, stretched over two rollers T T., These rollers being rotated the cloth is made to travel and so carry withit the flour, which passes through the lateral opening 00, the: discharge being regulated by the adjustable slide 3 sliding in grooves on the hoppers. kneading-trough A, and a scraper separates the particles of flour that may adhere to the cloth. The latter may be of any woven fabric or of caoutchouc, (he. The two rollers can be mounted on movable bearings for regulat- Their rotation verse bars coinciding with the spaces belween the blades of said shaft, whereby-said blades in revolving may move through the spaces between said bars and thereby propel the dough forward while subdividing, mixing and kneading it, and whereby by-removing the grating and blade-shaft all the parts are accessible for cleaning.

2. In an apparatus for kneading dough, a kneading device consisting of a trough having receiving and discharge ends, a bladeshaft revolving therein, and a longitudinallyremovable sliding grating heldin ways in said trough, and having transverse bars between which the blades-of said shaftwork.

3. In an apparatus for kneading dough, a kneading device'consisting of a trough having receiving and discharge ends, a bladeshaft revolving therein having helical blades projecting to diametrically opposite sides of said shaft, and. a longitudinally-removabie sliding grating heldv ways *in said trough and ha'vin g transverse bars between which the blades of said shaft work, said grating and shaft being relatively arranged so that when the blades of the shaft are turned horizontally the grating is left free to be removed by sliding it out longitudinally over said shaft.

i. In an apparatus for kneading dough, the combination with a kneading device, of a hopper for supplying flour thereto composed of an upper compartment into which flour can be charged, and a lower-compartment from whence it can be discharged in a uniform manner to said kneading device, and means hetwcen said compartments for intermittently In this The fiour falls thence into the" feedingflour from the upper to the lower, whereby the flour in the lower compartment is maintained of uniform density regardless of the extent of the charge in the upper compartment.

p 5. In an apparatus for kneading dough, the combination with a kneading device of ahopper for containing flour, a hopper for containin g leaven, arranged adjacent thereto, a feeding mechanism for delivering flour and leaven from said hoppers-to thekneadin g. deviceinnd separate regulating means for controlling the feed of flour and leaven respectively by said mechanism.

6. In an apparatus for kneading dough, the combination with a kneading device of a hopper for containing flour, a hopper for containing leaven, arranged adjacent thereto, a pair of feed-rollers extending under both hoppers, for delivering flour and leavenfrom said hoppers to the kneading device, and separate regulating means for controlling the feed of flour and le'aven respectively by said rollers.

7 In an apparatus for kneading dough, the

' combination with a kneading device of a hopper, a revolving feeder for transferring inaterial from said hopper to said kneading device,.and a regulating means for controlling the feed, consisting of a slide movable to uncover more or less of said feeder.

In an appe mtkee es sshlihe combination with a kneading device of a hopper, a pair of feed-rolls beneath said hopper, and a regulating-slide between said hopper and rolls, movable to uncover more or less of the lengthof said rolls.

9. In an apparatus forkneading dough, the combination with a kneading device of two hoppers for containing flou a pair of feedrolls extending beneath both said hoppers,

liquid leaven adjacent to said end of the trough, a roller turning therein and taking up a layer of leaven on'its surface, and a scraper arranged to scrape 01f said layer and drop it into said trough. I

11. In apparatus for kneading dough the combination, with a kneading device, of a water vessel, a gage vessel, a three-way cock therebetween, and means for movingsaidcock from thewater vessel to the gage vessel, and from the gage vessel to the kneading device.

12. In apparatus for kneading dough, the

combination with a kneading device,of a sultreservoir, and a feed for dischargiuga regu; lated quantity of salt, a source of water-supply, a receptacle receiving salt from said feed and Water from saigl source of supply, and outlets from said receptacle to said kneading device.

13. In apparatus for kneading dough, a 5 kneading device, in combination with a receptacle N, a source of water-supply, a'receptacle u receiving the discharge therefrom and from said receptacle N, and feeding it; to the kneading device, and means for simultane- I 0 ouely feedingother ingredients to said device,

and for cciitinueuely kneading the ingredients therein.

In WiiJlEES whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses CHARLES SOMASGQ "Witnesses iii. Jevmzcm, LE'Pmim 

